Dr. John H. Dougherty Jr., medical director of the Cole Neuroscience Center, is pictured Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Dougherty is being honored as a Health Care Hero for innovation. (PAUL EFIRD/NEWS SENTINEL)

Dr. John H. Dougherty Jr., medical director of the Cole Neuroscience Center, right, talks to Clinical Research Intern Kevin Sellers Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Dougherty is being honored as a Health Care Hero for innovation. (PAUL EFIRD/NEWS SENTINEL)

PAUL EFIRD/NEWS SENTINEL Dr. John H. Dougherty Jr., medical director of the Cole Neuroscience Center, founded the Knoxville Neurology Center in 1980 and has helped shape what neurology is about in Knoxville.

Dr. John H. Dougherty Jr., medical director of the Cole Neuroscience Center, founded the Knoxville Neurology Center and has helped shape what neurology is about in Knoxville.

When it comes to the war on Alzheimer's, Knoxville is a battleground and Dr. John H. Dougherty Jr. is a general.

Dougherty, 72, medical director of the Cole Neuroscience Center at University of Tennessee Medical Center, has dedicated his life to battling neurological disorders and has developed innovative methods of detecting and dealing with Alzheimer's disease.

"He helped shape what neurology is about in Knoxville," said Ann Giffin, vice president of the Brain and Spine Institute at UT Medical Center. "He's been the leading force for diagnosis and treatment of folks with dementia in Knoxville for 30 years."

The physician has cared for more than 30,000 patients throughout his career and has been sought for Alzheimer's lectures across the country and around the world. His interest in the disease was sparked by family ties and first-hand experience of how the disease affects individuals and families. He was one of the first to break into researching the field, according to Giffin.

"When nobody else really knew what to call it or how to name it or what to do about it, he was already active," she said. "He has spoken in the community, and every time you put his name out there as a speaker, he packs the house, because he has a really compelling message.

"He knows how to reach people, not with just the technical language, but he knows how to reach the families and those individuals who are fearful, because it's a disease we fear."

Dougherty's East Tennessee roots stretch back to 1980 when he founded the Knoxville Neurology Clinic, a UT affiliate. Educated at the University of North Carolina, Dougherty studied internal medicine at the UT Medical School in Memphis, where he completed his residency. He furthered his studies at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center before settling down in the Volunteer state and devoting his life to those suffering from degenerative dementia.

"We have so many patients now who need our special effort," Dougherty said. "I'm talking not just about the physician, but the caregiver, the nurses we have here, the social workers we have that make such an important contribution to Alzheimer's disease. It's been one of the driving factors."

Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease that attacks the brain, causing dementia. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the country, and more than 5 million Americans currently suffer from it. It takes more lives than breast and prostate cancer combined, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

"The highest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is time-longevity," Dougherty said. "As the population gets older, you have more patients with Alzheimer's disease, and that number will increase dramatically from about five million now to 15 million in 2050."

Though it is widely researched, no cure has been found. The disease can be diagnosed and the effects slowed, but researchers have yet to find a way to stop the degenerating effects. Currently, the best treatment is to stay physically and mentally active, and eat a good diet, according to Giffin.

Catching the disease early is important. Enter COGselftest, a paper or online self-assessment created by a team of researchers led by Dougherty, which can help identify cognitive issues at an early stage.

"What he was looking to create was something that was simple, that primary care physicians in particular could use in their office," Giffin said. "And so he developed the test based on his experience and the research he had done about prior tests, and then did a randomized clinical trial to validate his test."

It was deemed to be valid and reliable, and is widely used today.

Dougherty has helped countless caretakers deal with the disease. A dangerous and often precarious element of Alzheimer's disease comes when the afflicted person can no longer safely drive. Dougherty helps caretakers with the initial explanation of the importance of handing over car keys, and he often writes "no-driving" prescriptions so children and other caretakers won't be blamed.

"It is a very difficult thing in Alzheimer's disease sometimes to convince patients," Dougherty said. "We know that with the scores that they may have on the (driving) test, they are going to have a substantial problem with driving, at least over the long term. That is something that we do all the time. That is a very important role that we have."

Dougherty was fundamental in the creation of the Cole Neuroscience Center, the only sub-specialty center of its kind in the region for the treatment of neurological disorders.

The clinic was funded by Robert and Monica Cole, a couple who experienced Dougherty's care. Robert Cole initially came to Dougherty about his tremor — which was diagnosed as Parkinson's disease — and the Cole family later founded the clinic to better enable first-rate diagnosis and the treatment of many neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and epilepsy.

"The Coles were the ones who started this organization, started this effort by the University of Tennessee, to develop treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease," Dougherty said. "They gave a lot of money to the institution for supporting research in that area. We've been involved now in a lot of research areas connected with Alzheimer's disease."

The physician also was instrumental in establishing the Brain and Spine Institute at the UT Medical Center in 2004, according to Giffin.

Knoxville's Pat Summitt, the famed late basketball coach, credited Dougherty with the original diagnosis of her Alzheimer's.

"He's one of the reasons Pat Summitt got her diagnosis when she did," Giffin said. "He saw her first and then referred her to Mayo Clinic, and she wrote that in her last book."

Dougherty is working to create the Pat Summitt Alzheimer's Clinic, a joint venture between the UT Medical Center and the Pat Summitt Foundation that will provide patient and family care for people suffering from dementias. The clinic is slated to open this year and will double the medical center's capacity to 6,000 patients.

An associate professor with the Division of Neurology at the UT Graduate School of Medicine, Dougherty has trained many others entering the medical world. He is involved with a neurology clerkship for third- and fourth-year medical students, in which he teaches future physicians about neurology and the sub-specialties of the field. He also coaches them on the unique interaction between patients with memory loss, their families, and their doctors, according to Giffin.

Dougherty also gives lectures to Internal Medicine residents at the UT Medical Center, and he spends time with them at the clinic.

"He has introduced them to the world of research, and linking research and healthcare environment, what that is like in the clinic and what it is like in translational research as well," Giffin said. "So he has influenced a lot of folks into becoming scientists, not just physicians."

Dougherty has shared his knowledge with many others through the numerous articles related to his research that he has co-written and published.

To Dougherty, unity within health care is of prime importance.

"It is important for us to be a team, the team here and other investigators, other physicians and neurologists. It makes such a contribution to care," he said. "It's not just the group in this room, it's the group all over this area.

"Health care on the part of the caregiver can be such an important issue. Have them learn about it. Have them go to classes for a better understanding of their role as helping people with Alzheimer's disease."